Cafe Hopping in Johor Bahru

After I shared photos of the cafes and places we visited in Johor Bahru some weeks ago, many of my friends were surprised that JB is not as boring as they thought. In fact, they were surprised that the cafe culture in Singapore has spilled across the causeway.

So here are the cafes we stumbled upon around Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, Jalan Ibrahim, Jalan Trus and Jalan Dhoby. Some of them even have Instagramable desserts that come with recommendations by popular food bloggers!

Cafe hopping in JB

From our hotel at Puteri Pacific, we walked to Ehhe Art Cafe which is at the junction of Jalan Trus and Jalan Tan Hiok Nee for breakfast. The cafe had a very unique interior, where rustic meets nature with a pop of art everywhere you turn.

The reason why we came was because I was hoping to try their famous Hainanese Chicken Chop or Hainanese Chinese Rice. But it turns out we were way to early and these are only served during lunch after 12pm.

For breakfast, they have options like Nasi Lemak, eggs and hotdogs, toast and curry chicken and mee siam. I ordered mee siam expecting vermicelli in a spicy and sour gravy but when it came, it was a dish of dry and fried mee siam pretty like our breakfast bee hoon. Their coffee was good though and it’s really aromatic and strong.

Around the corner, we spotted these street art on the walls of the building. Interestingly, Jalan Tan Hiok Nee is the cultural district of JB. But I’m guessing that these modern art has brought street culture and a new character to the area.

Street art at Jalan Trus

How nostalgic are these!

After breakfast, we decided to explore around the area. But what do you know, cafes in JB don’t open so early. #sogoodlife

So for early risers, you’re better off having local breakfast at traditional coffeeshops like Hua Mui Coffeeshop where you can sink your teeth into charcoal grilled toast with kaya and butter, soft boil eggs, French Toast, as well as Nasi Lemak.

At 11:30am, most of the cafe were still not opened for business. So all I managed was photos of them with their shutters down.

This cafe is one of your best bets for breakfast and brunch and we heard they’ve got pretty awesome salted egg churros too!

We chanced upon this container cafe, Chaiwalla & CO, beside Maco Vintage cafe. Just how hippie is this seriously?!

We tried their iced flavoured fruit tea and thai ice tea but as much as I would love to say that the drinks are as good as their marketing, they were just not what we expected. The fruit tea was too sweet and the thai tea was not sweet enough.

But Phoebe did say their fruit tea with yogurt pop toppings was pretty good and I’m planning to try that another time.

There were only make shift seats at this cafe, but I’ll advise against baking yourself under the sun especially with the recent heatwave that has hit Malaysia. So just buy and go.

Our last stop for the day was Maco Vintage Cafe where Sophie spotted cakes on display and exclaimed, there’s aircon here!

Maco Vintage Cafe’s specialty are their Mille crepe and they have lots of options to satisfy every sweet tooth. We choose their 3-in-1 Mille crepe after all why settle for one flavour when you can enjoy 3?

Mille crepe cake with coffee, the perfect ending for our cafe hunt in JB that afternoon 🙂 Besides cake, they also serve dishes like pizza, pasta, chicken chop and quiche if you’re looking to have lunch or dinner.

Besides shopping and checking out the awesome local food, we also went cafe hopping and checked out the street art in JB. If you’re heading to JB, then don’t miss these posts where I share some of my shopping finds and places to go cafe hopping across the causeway as well.

I know what you mean about JB being happening with hippy cafes. They have been sprouting out a lot recently – which is what has been drawing me back to JB. Go for a drive around Taman Mount Austin! The cafe scene there super happening.

We hired a driver for this recent trip so you can consider that if you’re planning to go up to JB the next time. But I’ll say just exercise caution and park in brightly lit areas in the shopping malls and you’ll be quite safe.